A Discovery and a Rescue Of Sorts
by redcandle
Summary: Sansa visits the Quiet Isle with Brienne and finds something familiar about the gravedigger. Sansa/Sandor.


Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and elements from A Song of Ice and Fire belong to George R.R. Martin. No copyright infringement is intended.

Sansa watched the big monk who was helping serve the meal. It was the same man she'd seen digging a grave earlier. She remembered feeling sorry for him and thinking that the Elder Brother, who had been kind to her, was not so kind to the brothers under him. Digging in earth frozen near solid was surely arduous labor, and now that Sansa saw that the man walked with a limp, she thought the Elder Brother even crueler.

_If not for him, we would be starving and freezing,_ she reminded herself. She and Brienne had arrived in Saltpans to find the town being rebuilt by a company of westermen led by Ser Addam Marband. They'd risked being arrested if they stayed so they'd had to travel on. Luckily Brienne had known of a monastery on a nearby isle and the holy brothers had offered them shelter while they recovered from the harsh sea voyage that had brought them from the Vale.

The big monk placed a platter of baked trout on the table in front of Sansa. "Thank you, brother," she said to him.

He didn't reply, but she hadn't expected a reply. Brienne had told her that most of the brothers here had taken vows of silence as part of their penance and only the Elder Brother and a few others spoke. Sansa wondered what crimes the gravedigger was doing penance for. It was hard to reconcile the idea of holy brothers with terrible pasts.

_Perhaps he used to be a knight._ According to Brienne, the Elder Brother had been a knight in his youth and had fought for Rhaegar Targaryen on the ruby ford. Sansa wondered if the gravedigger had fought in the recent war, whether he'd fought against her brother Robb. She knew terrible things had been done during the war, the kind of things that might drive a man to seek absolution.

"Will you sing with us?" one of the order's proctors asked the visitors when the meal was over. Brienne declined, but Sansa felt obliged to do as she'd been asked. At first she sang in chorus with the others, but then her voice was praised and she was asked to sing alone. Feeling shy, she was only confident of the words to one hymn: the Mother's hymn.

She was stung when the Elder Brother got up and left while she was singing - until she realized the gravedigger had left and the Elder Brother was following him. It was none of her concern but Sansa couldn't help being curious. _Littlefinger always said it paid to know others' private affairs._ Immediately she was ashamed of the thought. This was a holy place and she should not think of an evil man's teachings here. Besides, a monk's secrets would not help restore Winterfell to her.

When the singing had come to an end and prayers had been said, Sansa and Brienne were taken across the island to a cluster of little huts the monks kept for female guests. Sansa tried not to be insulted at being isolated like something unclean. The hut wasn't bad; it was almost cozy. She was asleep in no time.

Brienne awoke during the night, waking Sansa when she crept outside with her sword in her hand. "What is it?" Sansa asked her. They were supposed to be safe here. It was an island, not easy to get to, and the only other people were holy men.

"I thought I heard something," Brienne answered. "But there was nothing. I'm sorry I waked you."

Sansa laid awake after Brienne had gone back to sleep. The warm hut seemed stuffy and stifling. She quietly got up and pulled her cloak over her shift, and slipped out the hut as silently as she could. The winter night air felt refreshing. But only for a brief moment and then it was too cold. Sansa turned to go back inside - and she heard it. Brienne's first instinct had been right. There was someone out there.

"Who are you?" she whispered. "What do you want?"

There was no reply. Sansa waited but no one revealed himself. She went back inside.

In the morning, she might have thought she'd dreamt it, but there were footprints in the snow. Big footprints.

"Some of the brothers are bad men atoning for their sins," Brienne said. "Perhaps one of them is not past committing fresh sins."

"You're probably right," Sansa agreed. She was reluctant to tell Brienne she'd gone outside and might have been attacked, and not only because it had been a foolish thing to do. It was likely the man had not harmed her because his holy vows and his conscience had gotten the better of him, but she couldn't help thinking that maybe he'd never meant her ill.

Perhaps she was being silly, but during the night she'd begun to wonder whether the gravedigger could be Sandor Clegane. It was true he'd died, according to Brienne, who'd heard it from the Elder Brother, but people didn't always stay dead these days. After all, Brienne was taking Sansa to her murdered lady mother, so who was to say that the Hound might not also have been resurrected.

There was something familiar about the man. Sansa was certain of it the more she watched him serve the morning meal. It was not simply his towering height or the breadth of his shoulders, it was something about his presence. She laid her hand on his arm when he set a bowl of porridge in front of her. "May I speak with you, brother?"

He tugged his arm free and walked away without any indication that he'd heard her. Brienne, however, had definitely heard her. "Sansa?" she asked, her eyebrow raised. "Why do you wish to speak with him?" She added, "You know he would not be able to reply to you."

"I'll tell you later," Sansa promised. She lifted her skirt and sprinted after the monk. "Brother, wait!" she called.

Abruptly he stopped and she nearly slammed into his back. He turned and grabbed her jaw in one big hand. "_Brother_," he said, in that familiar rough voice, "Is near as bad as _ser_, little bird."

"It _is_ you!" His face was hidden by a scarf wrapped around it and even his eyes were shadowed by the hood of his robe. Sansa wanted to see him. She pulled the scarf away before he could stop her. The burn scars on the side of his face were as bad as she remembered, but it was good to see him.

"It's me," he said. She could tell he was not as displeased as he tried to sound. "You'll have me praying on my knees for days under the Elder Brother's watchful gaze for breaking the damn vow of silence."

"I'd never have expected you to take holy vows," Sansa said. "But I suppose death changes a person." If Lady Catelyn could become an outlaw leader, then the Hound could become a monk.

He roared with laughter. "I'm not dead."

"But Brienne said the Elder Brother told her..."

"He lied. I told you, everyone lies."

"Sandor," the Elder Brother said. Sansa realized he'd followed her from the hall. She expected him to look angry or disappointed, but he looked resigned. "You've not taken final vows yet. This form of penance is not for every man."

Brienne was there now, looking shocked and confused. "Clegane?"

"The lady knight of Tarth," Sandor said. "You managed to find your quarry after all. Color me surprised."

Sansa was sure he must be miserable. She had not liked being the bastard girl Alayne Stone, and she couldn't imagine that the Hound liked serving at table. She felt she should save him, as Brienne had saved her. "You could come with us and be my shield. I'm sure my mother would welcome you," she offered. She actually wasn't sure that Lady Catelyn would be pleased to see him with them, but she would explain to her mother how he'd seen saved her from the mob in King's Landing and convince her that he'd be an excellent bodyguard.

"Sansa," Brienne said, in a tone that indicated she'd really like to have been consulted before Sansa invited a notorious killer to join them. Later Sansa would speak with her privately and explain that Sandor wasn't dangerous to her.

"Well, Sandor?" the Elder Brother said.

"Bugger it," Sandor said. "I'd rather be filling graves than digging them." At the Elder Brother's frown, he added, "Only those who deserve it, but there are a bloody lot of those."

Sansa was happy. She'd be the safest maiden in Westeros with the Hound and Brienne to protect her. "Then it's settled," she said, trying to sound authoritative.

"I'll see to providing you with clothing and food for your travel," the Elder Brother said to Sandor. "I know the brothers who tend the stables will be glad to see your horse go."

Sandor smirked a bit at that and Sansa deduced that his horse was very badly behaved. But probably a good horse nonetheless, like him.

"However I think we should speak privately before you leave."

Sandor left, to get his things or to wait for the Elder Brother, but the Elder Brother didn't leave immediately. He approached Sansa. She felt certain he must think she was a wicked girl to lure a man away from the gods, but he looked at her kindly. "I pray you will nurture what I've sparked within him." He touched the top of her head in a silent blessing.

When they were alone, Brienne looked to Sansa for an explanation of what exactly had happened these past few minutes. Sansa wondered how to put it. Then she remembered the way Brienne spoke of Jaime Lannister. "I know he's not been a good man, but he saved me and...I want him near me."

"If you are sure," Brienne said.

"I am," Sansa said. She really was very happy. She hummed as they walked back into the hall to finish their breakfast. First Brienne had found her and told her that her mother wasn't dead anymore, and now she'd found the Hound and he was going to be her Hound. Her bad luck was turning good. Though she'd have to get Brienne to stop guarding her honor so closely so Sandor could kiss her.


End file.
